Newbie – KALE MONTH

Kale is going to become my best friend for the month of April (and hopefully forever). I already like eating kale, I just forget to share it with my family. I am good at steaming kale at the end of the day and eating it on my own, but for some reason I don’t feed it to my children regularly. I am making April “KALE MONTH” at my house. My plan is to sneak it into one meal a day for the whole family for 30 days!

Why KALE you ask? Here are just a few amazing benefits from this gorgeously green veggie.

Kale is a nutritional standout in three basic areas:

1. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients: kale contains conventional antioxidants like vitamin C, beta-carotene, and manganese, and provides with the about 45 recently discovered flavonoids like kaempferol and quercetin. Many of which function as both antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.

2. Macronutrients (average U.S. adult is currently deficient): Kale a good source of Fiber and omega-3s, two macronutrients deficient our western diet. It only takes 200 calories’ worth of kale to provide 15 grams of fiber – substantially more than the average U.S. adult gets in an entire day after a diet of 2,000 calories.

3. cancer-preventive nutrients called glucosinolates: This is of course my favorite thing about kale, if you could marry a veggie, kale would be my man (no offense to my sweet hubby) I think kale loves our bodies more than we do. “Kale’s risk-lowering benefits for cancer have recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. These types include cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) made from glucosinolates in kale play a primary role in achieving these risk-lowering benefits.”

I could go on and on about the scientific research that has been done… I DO NOT want CANCER to affect my daily life or the life of any of my beautiful daughters. I will use kale as my sword and all the other cruciferous veggies as my shield to protect my family! I truly want the same for each person reading this. I want this information to be common conversation. Join me for KALE MONTH (even if it means just buying your first bunch of kale).

There are two common options for kale curly (seen below)

Dinosaur Kale, my favorite. (below)

I am planning to just chop it small enough that my kids don’t notice it too much. We also have several great recipes if you search “kale” in the search box. Please feel free to share your kale ideas with me.